The term comes from Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence) and refers to moments when the limbic system — the emotional center of the brain — overrides the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logic, reasoning, and self-control. In simpler terms: The emotional brain takes the driver’s seat, while the rational brain gets locked in the trunk. 🧩 The Brain Areas… Read More 🧠 What “Limbic Hijacking” Really Means
Science-based strategies that protect your body and mind when you’ve been through chronic harassment or trauma.(If someone is currently violating a restraining order, though, please keep involving law enforcement or a legal advocate—safety planning is the top priority.) 🧠 1. Re-establish real safety first Your nervous system can’t down-regulate while it still senses danger. Practical steps… Read More Practical steps that calm the brain’s alarm system
When someone repeatedly breaks a restraining order or keeps pursuing a victim despite the risk of arrest, they’re often driven by a combination of neurological dysfunction, emotional dysregulation, and learned behavior patterns — not simply “wanting punishment,” but an inability to regulate their impulses or tolerate loss of control. Let’s unpack what’s happening in their brain, step… Read More The Prefrontal Cortex: Impulse Control Breakdown
When an abuser continues to intrude or stalk, even after you’ve left, it interferes with the brain’s natural healing and rewiring process. Let’s unpack what’s happening — both neurologically and psychologically — and why it can feel like your brain is being “hijacked” by the connection that refuses to die. 1. The Brain’s Safety System Is… Read More The Brain’s Safety System Is Still on Alert
When we talk about “letting go” emotionally, it often feels abstract — like advice easier said than done. But your brain actually knows how to let go at a biological level. This process is called synaptic pruning, and it’s one of the key ways your brain adapts, learns, and evolves throughout your life. What Is Synaptic Pruning? Your… Read More Synaptic Pruning: How the Brain Lets Go to Grow
There are moments in life when everything seems to fall apart — the relationship ends, the job disappears, the familiar world collapses. It feels like death, not in the physical sense, but in the deep emotional sense of losing everything that once gave you identity, meaning, and belonging. Yet, neuroscience shows that what feels like… Read More What Felt Like an Ending Was Really the Making of You: The Neuroscience of Renewal
Calm evenings out with real conversation.Someone who smiles, listens, and asks you questions — not to judge, but to connect.Evenings at home, sharing a meal, playing guitar, singing together.Weekends with friends and our dogs who’ve made the move to Spain.Fun days and nights with family — eating, laughing, relaxing. This is how life should be:No… Read More The Neuroscience of Peaceful Living and Real Connection
It happens quietly at first — a small laugh that feels real again, a song you hum without noticing, a sense of calm when you wake up in the morning. Then one day you realise: I feel different. I act different. I’m not the same person I was a year ago. This transformation isn’t magic —… Read More The Neuroscience of Change: One Year On, Life Feels Different
Many people enter relationships believing that love requires compromise. While compromise is essential for practical aspects of partnership, true compatibility is not about bending yourself to fit someone else’s world — it’s about alignment between your values, goals, and authentic self. The Psychology of Self-Abandonment Self-abandonment occurs when you suppress or compromise your core identity… Read More True Compatibility: Alignment Over Control
One of the deepest lessons in love is learning to let someone be who they are. We often enter relationships with hope that our partner will change — that certain habits, opinions, or patterns will shift to align with our own vision of a “perfect” partnership. But neuroscience and psychology show us that trying to change… Read More The Power of Acceptance: Letting Your Partner Be Themselves
Linda C J Turner | Trauma Therapist & Emotional Healing Specialist 